~ There's no metaphysics on Earth like dessert.

Apple Cider Caramels from Liddabit Sweets

‘Tis now officially the season between holidays, with the glorious gluttony of Thanksgiving in the rear-view and the specter of Chrismahanukwanzakah looming large on the horizon. It is also the season between seasons, that limbo when the leaves have long fallen from the trees and the temperatures are dropping, dropping….

I am loath to say goodbye to fall. I like to indulge in apple and spice flavors for as long as possible before peppermint and eggnog take over, so any way I can prolong these tastes is a boon in my mind. Unfortunately, autumn apples are much harder to preserve than summer berries. Apple butter is a far cry from strawberry jam. Apple cider is great but harder to find and not usually portable.

Leave it to Liddabit Sweets, the Brooklyn artisanal confectioner, to devise such a thing as apple cider caramels to keep the apple flavor fresh long past October.

Liddabit’s apple cider caramels are soft and chewy, rich and buttery, but shot through with an unusual boozy bite from Calvados, a French apple brandy. The Calvados isn’t the only uniquely apple item in these caramels; apple cider jelly amps up the crisp, tart taste, and dried apples are interspersed throughout. I am a weirdo who loves the foamy texture and mildly sweet-tart taste of dried apples, so I’m obviously biased in thinking this is a welcome addition. That said, folding pliant dried apple bits into silky caramel is an unexpected (and objective) happy marriage of consistencies: the bouncy chew of the dried apple and the yielding chew of the caramel.

So pretty you don’t even need to wrap it.

For $7.00 you get twelve caramels packed in a antique-y floral-patterned box. If you are already preoccupied with the upcoming gift-giving season, this would be a perky and festive stocking stuffer. But if you just want to hold on to fall for a little bit longer, you can put one of these caramels in your pocket for a sweet reminder whenever you want it.